Well, in case you needed any more proof that a new iPad was on the way, Apple just made it official. Several media outlets, including The Verge and The Loop are reporting this morning that they have received their official media invites to the iPad 3 event.

While the invites don’t specifically mention that the event will be used to unveil a new tablet, we imagine that the image of a Retina-display iPad in the invitation’s background gives that away. Full event details after the break…

According to The Verge, the event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California — on the other side of the country from where CNBC predicted in a report earlier this morning.

As expected, though, the event will take place on Wednesday, March 7th. The keynote will kick off at 10 AM PST, so make sure you keep your browser locked on iDB that day for full coverage of the event and our thoughts on the new tablet.

The iPad 3 is expected to be a significant upgrade from its predecessor with a quad-core processor, LTE technology, and a high resolution Retina display. And the word on the street is that it will be available shortly after next week’s event.